Italy Vacation: Ideas for Venice, Bologna, Tuscany and Rome
The beautiful Grand Canal.
Happy Monday Friends! If you follow me on Instagram you probably saw that I was just on vacation in Italy. So, today I wanted to share some of my vacation pictures with you. We took approximately 10,000 (okay, not exactly, but it was so many) so I’ve edited them down to just a few here.
We started our trip in Venice and spent about 24 hours there, next we went to Bologna for 2 days, then we made our way to Tuscany for a week, and ended with one day in Rome before flying home. It was seriously a dream of a trip and was made even better by the fact that we got to spend a lot of it with friends. Our Thanksgiving friends (and here) and some long-time family friends.
I’d like to share my favorite part of the trip with you, but honestly there were so many that I just can’t choose one. I will say, some of the top contenders were: the cooking class in Tuscany, our food pilgrimage to Bologna where we ate tons of the food we’ve been obsessed with cooking at home for years, and day trips to Florence.
Here are some of the photo highlights of vacation ideas for Venice, Bologna, Tuscany and Rome!
Venice
My top tip for Venice is to skip the gondolas (extremely expensive) and just use the vaporetto (water bus) to get around. You still get great views of the canal and surrounding areas and a much more reasonable price.
There are no cars allowed in Venice, so even the construction workers have to get around by boat!
Venice flooded while we were there which was very cool to see. They put out the elevated walkways you see in the bottom of the photo to keep everyone's feet dry. When you go to San Marco Square (pictured here) be sure to tour the museum at the top of the cathedral - it's only 5 eruo and it's fascinating!
The food all over Italy was everything you dream it would be. This pizza in Venice was no exception!
Bologna
Bologna is in the center of what's called "Italy's stomach" becuase it's where so many of the quintisessntial Italian foods come from. Prosciutto di Parma, Parmesan cheese, tortellini, tortelloni, Mortadella, Lambrusco. We came here to EAT, and it did not disappoint.
Look at all that procuitto and parmesan - I don't think there are enough heart eyes to express how much I love it.
Tortellini and Passatelli in brodo. It doesn't look like much, but that broth is one of my favorite meals of the entire trip. There are no words to describe how deliciously flavorful it is, all the while being light but rich and filling.
Tuscany
If you’re in Tuscany you have to take the cooking class we did. It was incredible. It was at a villa on a hill overlooking San Giamigano in the middle of tons of vineyards. The owner of the cooking school is so much fun and you make some seriously delicious food.
We traveled with my friend, Stella, who blogs over at Are We Adults Yet. Be sure to check out her recap of Tuscany!
A typical scene in Certaldo Alto where we stayed for our time in Tuscany.
The stunning setting of cooking class. The hill you see in the back ground is San Gimignano known for having the world's best gelato. I can vouch, it's pretty damn good. Get the pistachio (I promise).
Our cooking instruction. He was so much fun, full of energy and made cooking pasta from scratch easy.
Pretty scenes from our day in Sienna.
Sienna duomo is spectacular. And this is just the outside.
The inside is even more impressive!
I love this shot of Sienna's main piazza that I snapped as the sun was setting.
Florence
Climb the Duomo and visit the museum. When you buy a ticket you get access to climb the tower, visit the museum, and visit the crypts. The ceiling of the Duomo is so much more incredible up close. If you only tour the Basilica you won’t get the full affect. And the museum is so well done and has lots of the original pieces in it, it’s absolutely worth doing.
Florence's duomo is much more intricate on the outside than Sienna's.
The inside is quite minimal, but the dome is absoultely incredible.
Florence's Ponte Vecchio at dusk.
I loved exploring Florence after dark.
Rome
We saw all of the major sights that you really can’t go to Rome without checking out. But, my favorite thing we did was something a bit less known, and that was The Bone Church. It’s honestly incredible. It’s only 8 euro and take about an hour to get through. It’s a must do because you won’t see anything like it anywhere else. (See Are We Adults Yet post about how to do Rome in 24 Hours!).
Rome's streets felt so Parisian to me.
The Trevi Fountain.
The Pantheon.
The Colosseum in Rome.
The Colosseum in Rome.
The Colosseum in Rome.